The San Diego Food System Alliance is a collaborative of leaders committed to impacting changes within our community food system. Our Working Groups involve over 60 organizations or individuals representing nonprofits, government, and advocates in businesses and communities. The staff of the Alliance provide the backbone support for the group, including strategic guidance and operations support.

Alliance Director Elly Brown elly@sdfsa.org

Elly Brown is the Director of the San Diego Food System Alliance, a coalition with a mission to develop a healthy, equitable, and sustainable food system. Elly discovered her passion for the social sector during her frequent business trips to China and southeast Asia while working as a consultant at Deloitte in Japan. During her MBA, Elly conducted market research for the launch of a healthcare social enterprise for BRAC Uganda and evaluated a “second chance” education program for primary school dropouts in post-conflict Northern Uganda. She continued her work on social impact by joining Root Cause, a Boston-based nonprofit consulting firm, in 2010. She advised nonprofits and foundations on building organizational capacity and maximizing community impact through collaborations.

Elly received a Bachelors in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Duke University. Elly was a staff blogger for Nextbillion, covering topics on sustainable development and social innovation. She was a judge at Harvard’s Pitch for Change social enterprise competition, serving as a mentor for the winning teams. She has experiences as a strategic consultant for social impact organizations in US, Japan, India, Uganda, and Bermuda. Elly now lives in San Diego with her husband and one child.

Director of Strategic Initiatives Barbara Hamilton barbara@sdfsa.org

Barbara Hamilton is a demonstrated leader and collaborator in sustainability. She has spent the past 10 years building diverse experience in sustainability program management and development, recently serving as Palomar Health’s Sustainability Manager. In this capacity, Barbara oversaw a comprehensive sustainability program with initiatives in energy and water efficiency, waste reduction, healthy food, environmentally preferred purchasing, alternative transportation, gardens, and engagement.

Barbara served as Chair for the Novation Environmental Advisory Group, a nation-wide advisory working to green the supply chain. She chaired the San Diego Nutrition in Healthcare Leadership Team, working to support healthy, sustainable food in the healthcare sector, as well as participating in regional, state, and national collaboratives efforts with Health Care Without Harm supporting more sustainable meat production and consumption.

A LEED Green Associate with a Master of Applied Science in Environmental Policy and Management, Barbara has received numerous awards for clients, as Chair of the Carlsbad Chamber Sustainability Committee, and for the success of her sustainability consulting business: Eco-Stream.

Serving as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the San Diego Food System Alliance, Barbara’s current focus is on collaboration and engagement in both reducing food waste and increasing food donation to people in need across San Diego County.

Fall/ Winter Intern 2017 Olivia Stanforth olivia@sdfsa.orgOlivia Stanforth is a recent San Diego State University graduate with a degree in Sustainability. She is passionate about local food systems and their positive impacts on the environment and public health. She is especially interested in regenerative agriculture and the carbon-sequestering capacities of soil. This summer she spent time on a farm in Virginia learning about carbon farming and helping to manage a small herd of cattle. A San Diego native, Olivia is excited to intern with the SDFSA to help promote sustainable food production, waste diversion, and healthy food access in her home city. Cooking is one of her favorite pastimes, and on Sundays she can be found stocking up on fresh ingredients at the Hillcrest farmer’s market.

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Summer Intern 2017 Briana Alfaro bralfaro@syr.edu

Briana Alfaro is an Escondido native and a graduate student at Syracuse University, completing a M.S. in Food Studies. She spent most of the decade after graduating from Humboldt State University with a B.A. in journalism, working in the food system as a server, cook, barista, CSA representative, farmers market salesperson, and in produce sales. Her experience as a worker in the food system, as an intern in Wild Willow Farm’s Sustainable Farming program, and as a volunteer with Slow Money San Diego, together propelled her to seek deeper understanding of structural and systemic issues of food and social justice in academia. Her research interests include land tenure, agrobiodiversity, food sovereignty, food access, gentrification, and the craft beer industry.

As an intern with the San Diego Food System Alliance, she focuses on helping the Healthy Food Access Working Group reach its goal of enrolling healthy vendors to the County of SD’s Restaurant Meals Program, and assisting the Urban Agriculture Working Group by documenting success stories of securing public land for urban agriculture projects.